Do Trek fans still consider TOS to be apart of the real canon?

[ReadyAndWilling]

hey guys, now that TOS finished so long ago, is the show still considered to be part of the real Trek's?

so much of what happened on the show has been contradicted by itself, it just doesn't make any sense to me now. hell, half of the stuff we have available in the early 21st century is far more technologically advanced than what TOS, a 23rd century show had. it just seems silly to always look back at TOS now.

if it was up to me i would forget TOS ever existed and only consider TNG, DS9, VOY and the movies as canon.
ENT kind of manipulates the others a little with the Borg episode, but as this is the most recent Trek we have available, only ENT should be considered real canon, or at least should supersede the others when confusing issues come up.

 

[Amaris]

The Original Series is the Original Canon. It's not up to the past to make excuses for the future. It is what it is.

 

[scotpens]

The original series IS Star Trek. Everything after that is apocryphal. Or takes place in an alternate universe.

 

[RookieBatman]

if it was up to me i would forget TOS ever existed and only consider TNG, DS9, VOY and the movies as canon.

What a shame that would be.

I think I better stop now; I'm afraid I'll get too emotionally involved. I will say this, though. Canon is overrated; artistic value is all that matters.

 

[plynch]

Paramount says what is canon.

If one has a personal "reality" continuum in which some of the shows/eps "really" happened and some didn't, that's a little dodgy.

They're episodic shows made in different decades. They all contradict. Just enjoy them. Or not. Whatever.

If the Earth were about to be destroyed and only one Trek series could be archived, I'd go TOS, by the way.

 

[Captain Rob]

If the Earth were about to be destroyed and only one Trek series could be archived, I'd go TOS, by the way.

Archived for who?
I would agree anyway.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Nah, its the rest of the canon thats different and there for not "real". There is a version of TOS that exists as a "backstory" to the rest of Trek, but its not exactly the same. Sort like Superman. Some of the stuff is the same Post Crisis but not all. So anything after TOS is a differnt Universe.

 

[F. King Daniel]

There was a great line in Voyager (no idea which episode), where Janeway was talking about Da Vinci, or Apollo or someone and she goes "Captain Kirk claimed to have met him...but the evidence is less than convincing" or words to that effect. I thought it a neat way of dealing with some of the sillier elements of TOS.

I believe the official stance of TPTB is that "new canon" > "old canon" when they conflict. Thus phasers existed in the 2150's, cloaking devices were old hat by the 2260's, Kirk's ship was the second Starship Enterprise etc.

But if TOS wasn't "real" Trek anymore they wouldn't have crammed Enterprise with TOS prequel episodes, or done a big budget movie adaptation.

 

[Lyon_Wonder]

TOS's still cannon in the prime universe, and TNG and DS9 acknowledge TOS as part of the trekenverse. Heck, even ENT's Mirror Universe episode shows the TOS-era Defiant and it's TOS-style tech.
Of course we can overlook some of the dialogue in "The Cage", mainly references to "lasers" and "Warp Time Factor" since that was still a work in progress.

 

[Warped9]

hey guys, now that TOS finished so long ago, is the show still considered to be part of the real Trek's?

so much of what happened on the show has been contradicted by itself, it just doesn't make any sense to me now. hell, half of the stuff we have available in the early 21st century is far more technologically advanced than what TOS, a 23rd century show had. it just seems silly to always look back at TOS now.

if it was up to me i would forget TOS ever existed and only consider TNG, DS9, VOY and the movies as canon.
ENT kind of manipulates the others a little with the Borg episode, but as this is the most recent Trek we have available, only ENT should be considered real canon, or at least should supersede the others when confusing issues come up.

I can only say because everyone else has already said what needs to be said.

Star Trek IS the real, original canon and the rest has spun out into the weeds. After TOS it's mostly an adaptation, a reinterpretation of the real Star Trek.

 

[Jptrekker]

no TOS, no STAR TREK.
know TOS, know STAR TREK.

 

[Greg Cox]

TOS is just as much a part of the old Prime universe as the later sequels and spin-offs.

Not that it really matters much anymore, now that we have a whole new timeline to play with.

 

[Spork111]

I find the question to be strange. I mean, TOS is the Original Series... I don't know how much more "canon" you can get. As for 21st century tech being more advanced than TOS tech... well, like what, specifically? Communicators? They're basically like the cell phones we have today, but I wouldn't consider them much "less" advanced. Computers? That's debatable in terms of interfaces (TOS kept it pretty vague with a voice interface, with plenty of jelly bean buttons to boot!), although processing speeds could be argued to be rather slow compared to today. But... who cares? Is it really that big a deal? And do we have phasers, warp drive, or transporters yet? If so, I must have missed the news story. I think what people might really mean when they talk about TOS tech is actually the production design, which does have a 1960's style which may seem anachronistic to viewers today (although I find it to be quite futuristic in it's own way).

Besides, why is everyone so concerned about "what's canon" and what isn't? Dare I point out that it's just a TV show, not the Holy Bible or something? What matters is if you enjoy it or not.

 

[mattyhugh]

I find the question to be strange. I mean, TOS is the Original Series... I don't know how much more "canon" you can get. As for 21st century tech being more advanced than TOS tech... well, like what, specifically? Communicators? They're basically like the cell phones we have today, but I wouldn't consider them much "less" advanced. Computers? That's debatable in terms of interfaces (TOS kept it pretty vague with a voice interface, with plenty of jelly bean buttons to boot!), although processing speeds could be argued to be rather slow compared to today. But... who cares? Is it really that big a deal? And do we have phasers, warp drive, or transporters yet? If so, I must have missed the news story. I think what people might really mean when they talk about TOS tech is actually the production design, which does have a 1960's style which may seem anachronistic to viewers today (although I find it to be quite futuristic in it's own way).

Besides, why is everyone so concerned about "what's canon" and what isn't? Dare I point out that it's just a TV show, not the Holy Bible or something? What matters is if you enjoy it or not.

Neat, your cell phone can talk to ships in space!

 

[Nerys Myk]

I find the question to be strange. I mean, TOS is the Original Series... I don't know how much more "canon" you can get. As for 21st century tech being more advanced than TOS tech... well, like what, specifically? Communicators? They're basically like the cell phones we have today, but I wouldn't consider them much "less" advanced. Computers? That's debatable in terms of interfaces (TOS kept it pretty vague with a voice interface, with plenty of jelly bean buttons to boot!), although processing speeds could be argued to be rather slow compared to today. But... who cares? Is it really that big a deal? And do we have phasers, warp drive, or transporters yet? If so, I must have missed the news story. I think what people might really mean when they talk about TOS tech is actually the production design, which does have a 1960's style which may seem anachronistic to viewers today (although I find it to be quite futuristic in it's own way).

Besides, why is everyone so concerned about "what's canon" and what isn't? Dare I point out that it's just a TV show, not the Holy Bible or something? What matters is if you enjoy it or not.

Neat, your cell phone can talk to ships in space!

Only when I wear my tinfoil hat.

 

[F. King Daniel]

^My phone can't call ships in orbit, but can Spock watch YouTube videos on his communicator?

Every TOS episode where someone else goes "If only we had access to the Enterprise computer!" on an away mission, I smile. I can access virtually the sum total of human knowledge on my phone. Google. Wikipedia. Memory Alpha.
But I guess seeing McCoy hunched over his communicator for two minutes would have been a less dramatic finale to "Miri"

 

[Warped9]

I find the question to be strange. I mean, TOS is the Original Series... I don't know how much more "canon" you can get.

Yeah. How much more prime universe and prime continuity can you get?

 

[Spork111]

I find the question to be strange. I mean, TOS is the Original Series... I don't know how much more "canon" you can get. As for 21st century tech being more advanced than TOS tech... well, like what, specifically? Communicators? They're basically like the cell phones we have today, but I wouldn't consider them much "less" advanced. Computers? That's debatable in terms of interfaces (TOS kept it pretty vague with a voice interface, with plenty of jelly bean buttons to boot!), although processing speeds could be argued to be rather slow compared to today. But... who cares? Is it really that big a deal? And do we have phasers, warp drive, or transporters yet? If so, I must have missed the news story. I think what people might really mean when they talk about TOS tech is actually the production design, which does have a 1960's style which may seem anachronistic to viewers today (although I find it to be quite futuristic in it's own way).

Besides, why is everyone so concerned about "what's canon" and what isn't? Dare I point out that it's just a TV show, not the Holy Bible or something? What matters is if you enjoy it or not.

Neat, your cell phone can talk to ships in space!

Only when I wear my tinfoil hat.

Actually, I was trying to make the point that TOS tech was sufficiently futuristic. I actually don't like the cell phone/communicator argument that people use to say that TOS is outdated, but I can understand where it comes from. As I recall, Rick Berman started that whole thing back when Enterprise was first announced... My point was that a TOS communicator is not, in fact, less advanced than a modern cell phone, at least not to any measurable extent. In fact, if anything it would be more advanced.

Basically, I'm wondering why TOS should be considered "not canon" because it's technology is "not advanced enough" from a 21st century standpoint. I propose it is advanced enough and, moreover, issues like that aren't a big enough deal to warrant ignoring the original show in favor of it's spinoffs.

Now hey, if you like the spinoffs better because you think they have better writing, acting, etc... that's certainly respectable. But the fact that it's from the 1960's and therefore "old" means that TOS doesn't deserve to be canon anymore? So what, in 15 years will TNG be "too old to be canon" anymore? Where does it end?

 

[Amaris]

hey guys, now that TOS finished so long ago, is the show still considered to be part of the real Trek's?

so much of what happened on the show has been contradicted by itself, it just doesn't make any sense to me now. hell, half of the stuff we have available in the early 21st century is far more technologically advanced than what TOS, a 23rd century show had. it just seems silly to always look back at TOS now.

if it was up to me i would forget TOS ever existed and only consider TNG, DS9, VOY and the movies as canon.
ENT kind of manipulates the others a little with the Borg episode, but as this is the most recent Trek we have available, only ENT should be considered real canon, or at least should supersede the others when confusing issues come up.

I can only say because everyone else has already said what needs to be said.

Star Trek IS the real, original canon and the rest has spun out into the weeds. After TOS it's mostly an adaptation, a reinterpretation of the real Star Trek.

Agreed. While I highly enjoy TNG and DS9, the original and the best is still TOS, and it is the authority (in my opinion) when it comes to canon.

 

[CaptainStoner]

I find the question to be strange. I mean, TOS is the Original Series... I don't know how much more "canon" you can get.

Yeah. How much more prime universe and prime continuity can you get?

The problem with that question was in assuming that Star Trek is primarily about technology.
Even so, TOS technology is still way beyond what we have today. A TOS communicator doesn't require a network of towers to function, and can reach another unit anywhere on a planet surface, or even in high orbit, except when plot-related storms and/or superbeings intervene.
Furthermore, TNG technology really isn't advanced much beyond TOS, except in their increased ability to replicate matter for food, and of course holographic projection technology. Otherwise it's all the same stuff on a somewhat larger scale.